This Month’s MMA Birthdays: Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic Turns 43

Filipovic debuted in 2001 and soon after rose to prominence in
Pride, where his signature left high kick made him a permanent
fixture on highlight reels. During his stay in the Japanese
organization, “Cro Cop” twice fought for the heavyweight title, won
the 2006 Pride open weight grand prix and subdued a long line of
contemporaries: Josh Barnett
(three times), Wanderlei
Silva, Kazushi
Sakuraba, Igor
Vovchanchyn, Mark Coleman,
Kevin
Randleman and Hidehiko
Yoshida. Filipovic’s famed August 2005 battle with Fedor
Emelianenko -- he lost by unanimous decision -- was easily the
most anticipated heavyweight fight in mixed martial arts
history.